“…Individual bodies are political expressions ... and intervening in their habits and way of being is no less a political act than lobbying for the reform of laws regarding rape .... To change social perceptions of women women's bodies are, and what they can do, is to change political discourse. (, p. 378; see also McCaughey, )…”
Section: Are the Critiques Of Women's Self‐defense Training Valid?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As McCaughey writes, “self‐defense transforms the way it feels to inhabit a female body. It changes what it means to be a woman” (, p. 2; see also Hollander, ; Cahill, , ; McCaughey, ; Rentschler, ; Thompson, ). More broadly, women who have taken an ESD class report that the experience changes their ideas and beliefs about gender : they are more likely to see women (as a group, not just women who have learned self‐defense) as strong, capable, and worthy of respect and less likely to see men's violence as inevitable (De Welde, ; Hollander, ; McCaughey, ).…”
Section: Are There Other Consequences Of Self‐defense Training?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…When self‐defense students set and enforce clearer interactional boundaries, for example, the men with whom they interact may behave differently, both in the interaction in question and in subsequent interactions with other women. These shifts could have major consequences for communities (Cahill, ; Flood, ; Gavey, ; Gidycz & Dardis, ; McCaughey, ; McCaughey & Cermele, ). Of course, changes in culture and structure are also necessary to support and solidify these behavioral changes (Dworkin, Fleming, & Colvin, ).…”
Section: Are There Other Consequences Of Self‐defense Training?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The fact that women with ESD training report fewer attempted assaults than those without training (Hollander, ; Senn et al, ) suggests that these strategies help women prevent the initiation of violence as well as cope with it. Some scholars believe that by changing interactional patterns and norms as well as women's self‐perceptions and identities, self‐defense classes target root causes of violence, including expectations about gender and sexuality and gender inequality itself (Cahill, ; Cahill & Hunt, ; Gavey, ; Gidycz & Dardis, ; Hollander, , , ; McCaughey, ; McCaughey & Cermele, ). Moreover, changing men does not necessarily entail intervening directly with men; empowering women may transform gender relations by shifting the wider conditions within which men make choices about violence and non‐violence ….…”
Section: Are the Critiques Of Women's Self‐defense Training Valid?mentioning
Public attention to sexual assault has increased dramatically over the last decade, spurring questions about how it can be prevented. One approach that has received scant attention is women's self-defense training (sometimes known as sexual assault resistance training). This neglect is curious because empowerment-based women's self-defense (ESD) training is so far the only approach that has produced substantively significant decreases in victimization rates. In this article, I review the research evidence on women's selfdefense training. Does resisting a sexual assault affect the outcome of sexual violence? Does self-defense training further reduce women's risk of violence? What are the other consequences of self-defense training? How does selfdefense work for different groups of women-for example, those who have survived prior victimizations? Are the critiques of women's self-defense training valid? Finally, what do we still need to learn about women's self-defense? Overall, I argue that this evidence presents a compelling case that women's self-defense training should be central to any efforts to prevent sexual violence.
“…Individual bodies are political expressions ... and intervening in their habits and way of being is no less a political act than lobbying for the reform of laws regarding rape .... To change social perceptions of women women's bodies are, and what they can do, is to change political discourse. (, p. 378; see also McCaughey, )…”
Section: Are the Critiques Of Women's Self‐defense Training Valid?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As McCaughey writes, “self‐defense transforms the way it feels to inhabit a female body. It changes what it means to be a woman” (, p. 2; see also Hollander, ; Cahill, , ; McCaughey, ; Rentschler, ; Thompson, ). More broadly, women who have taken an ESD class report that the experience changes their ideas and beliefs about gender : they are more likely to see women (as a group, not just women who have learned self‐defense) as strong, capable, and worthy of respect and less likely to see men's violence as inevitable (De Welde, ; Hollander, ; McCaughey, ).…”
Section: Are There Other Consequences Of Self‐defense Training?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…When self‐defense students set and enforce clearer interactional boundaries, for example, the men with whom they interact may behave differently, both in the interaction in question and in subsequent interactions with other women. These shifts could have major consequences for communities (Cahill, ; Flood, ; Gavey, ; Gidycz & Dardis, ; McCaughey, ; McCaughey & Cermele, ). Of course, changes in culture and structure are also necessary to support and solidify these behavioral changes (Dworkin, Fleming, & Colvin, ).…”
Section: Are There Other Consequences Of Self‐defense Training?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The fact that women with ESD training report fewer attempted assaults than those without training (Hollander, ; Senn et al, ) suggests that these strategies help women prevent the initiation of violence as well as cope with it. Some scholars believe that by changing interactional patterns and norms as well as women's self‐perceptions and identities, self‐defense classes target root causes of violence, including expectations about gender and sexuality and gender inequality itself (Cahill, ; Cahill & Hunt, ; Gavey, ; Gidycz & Dardis, ; Hollander, , , ; McCaughey, ; McCaughey & Cermele, ). Moreover, changing men does not necessarily entail intervening directly with men; empowering women may transform gender relations by shifting the wider conditions within which men make choices about violence and non‐violence ….…”
Section: Are the Critiques Of Women's Self‐defense Training Valid?mentioning
Public attention to sexual assault has increased dramatically over the last decade, spurring questions about how it can be prevented. One approach that has received scant attention is women's self-defense training (sometimes known as sexual assault resistance training). This neglect is curious because empowerment-based women's self-defense (ESD) training is so far the only approach that has produced substantively significant decreases in victimization rates. In this article, I review the research evidence on women's selfdefense training. Does resisting a sexual assault affect the outcome of sexual violence? Does self-defense training further reduce women's risk of violence? What are the other consequences of self-defense training? How does selfdefense work for different groups of women-for example, those who have survived prior victimizations? Are the critiques of women's self-defense training valid? Finally, what do we still need to learn about women's self-defense? Overall, I argue that this evidence presents a compelling case that women's self-defense training should be central to any efforts to prevent sexual violence.
“…Feminist self-defence programmes challenge the belief held by many who inhabit feminine bodies that they are physically incapable of stopping a masculine body bent on harming them. Learning that they can inflict serious bodily harm exposes men's bodies as vulnerable and challenges the discursive construction of women as always already violable (McCaughey, Real Knockouts, 1997;Marcus 1992;Hollander 2004;Cahill 2009). Such learning can therefore be said to constitute a form of corporeal feminism enabling new, more powerful experiences of inhabiting a female body (Grosz 1994).…”
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